A/N: One of my shorter efforts today. Alas. Continue to read and review please!

Chapter 6: The New Marauders

The first thing the three of them noticed was that this other Harry didn’t have a scar. Of course, they hadn’t really expected him to; his parents were still alive, so Voldemort probably hadn’t tried to kill him as a baby. Still, they were so used to seeing him with a scar, that he looked like a completely different person without it.

The other Harry walked towards them with his hands extended. “Hi,” he said, “my name’s Harry. Harry Potter. You three are new students here?”

Each of them offered Harry their hands, and introduced themselves using their aliases for this world. Dumbledore, standing nearby, said, “Mr. Potter, it is already going quite late. I’ve alerted the Professors patrolling tonight that you would be out late, but it’s probably best not to push it. You should escort these three to their new dormitories. I assume you have alerted a female in the Gryffindor house to their presence so that someone will be there to greet Ms. Merton?”

“Yes sir. Hannah Abbot is waiting by to show her around.” The trio exchanged puzzled glances over this remark. In their world, Hannah Abbot was a Hufflepuff.

“Excellent!” Dumbledore said, and waved them out of the office.

Leaving, Hermione turned to Dumbledore and said, “Thank you for all your help Headmaster.”

“It was my pleasure, Ms. Merton. I will be in touch with the three of you shortly so that we can meet again.”

With that, the other Harry led them out of the office. He began to walk down the corridors towards the Gryffindor house.

“It’s a good idea to pay close attention where we’re walking,” he said. “The castle can be a real maze if you’re not sure where you’re going. But don’t worry. You’re headed to Gryffindor house; Gryffindors are always willing to help each other out. So the Headmaster told me before you arrived that you were having dinner with my parents?”

“Yes,” Hermione responded. “We had gone with Dumbledore to a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix after we arrived at the castle. When it was over, your parents insisted upon feeding us.”

The other Harry laughed. “That sounds just like them. Mum probably couldn’t bear the thought of you entering Hogwarts without a home-cooked meal, even though she bloody well knows the food at Hogwarts is amazing.”

“Well, it was nice of them to have us over.”

“Let me guess. Mum tried to mother you to death and wanted to know all about you. Then Dad shifted the conversation somehow to Quidditch.”

“That’s almost exactly how it went,” Harry responded.

“Are any of you Quidditch players?” the other Harry asked.

Ron spoke up this time. Pointing to Hermione, he said, “She’s not, but we both are. I’m a Keeper, but I’m not great. Steven’s the better one. He’s a Seeker.”

The other Harry’s eyes lit up. “A Seeker, eh? That’s my position as well on the House team. Your friend says you’re good?”

“I’m ok,” Harry responded.

“We’ll have to play sometime, get some good competition going. Haven’t faced a decent Seeker since Cedric Diggory graduated and joined the Appleby Arrows.”

“I’d like that,” Harry responded. He really would love to play his doppelganger, but that wasn’t why he had a smile on his face. Instead, he was thrilled to hear that in this world Cedric Diggory still lived.

“So who are your teams?” the other Harry asked.

“I’m a die-hard Chudley Cannons fan myself,” Ron responded.

“Oh gosh another one,” the other Harry said. “I swear, ever since they won their third straight national championship last year everyone has become a Chudley Cannons fan.” Harry looked over at Ron. It was quite possibly the happiest he had ever seen his friend.

The three of them walked through the hallways of Hogwarts chattering about Quidditch, with Hermione following closely behind. Finally, they reached Gryffindor tower. Entering into the common room, they saw the room mostly deserted, save one girl lightly dozing in a chair: Hannah Abbot, as promised. Hearing them enter, she awoke and walked over to them.

“Hey Harry. Are these the three new people?” She turned to them. “Hi, I’m Hannah.” The trio introduced themselves again. “It’s starting to grow pretty late,” Hannah said. “We should be going to bed.”

“You’re probably right,” the other Harry responded, and with that he led Harry and Ron up to the boys’ dormitory while Hannah led Hermione up to the girls’ dormitory. “Unfortunately I won’t be able to introduce you to everyone tonight. I think all the guys are in bed. Tomorrow morning at breakfast though you should be able to meet everyone. I’m sure you’ll like them.”

“Thanks for everything you’ve done for us,” Harry told this other version of himself. “It was really nice of you to take us in and show us the ropes.”

“I guess it goes back to something my dad told me over the summer,” the other Harry responded. “He said that in this fight against Voldemort, not everyone would be some gallant hero riding in to save the day. We each have our roles to play, and hopefully they’ll all work together and defeat Voldemort.” Harry felt proud that even in this universe he was unafraid of the name. “You’re playing your roles by giving Dumbledore information; I’m playing mine by helping you guys out. It’s not a huge thing, but you never know what will be important.

With that, they parted ways, each of them going to their own beds. As Harry walked towards his bed, he wondered if he would ever be able to fall asleep. This had been among the most surreal days he had ever experienced; he had met both his parents and another version of himself. However, as soon as his head hit the pillow, he found himself in a deep sleep.

The next morning, Harry awoke to find the dormitory empty save for himself, Ron, and the other Harry. The other Harry was up and getting dressed, while Ron looked as though he were also just waking up.

“It’s about time you two woke up,” the other Harry said. “Any later and we would have been late for breakfast!” Harry and Ron both quickly got up and changed out of the nightclothes that Harry had lent them and into their regular robes. When all three were dressed, they left the dormitory and walked down to the Great Hall.

As they were arriving, they bumped into Hannah and Hermione, both of whom were also nearly late for breakfast. Nodding good morning at each other, the five of them proceeded to walk over to the Gryffindor table and sit down.

After they had sat down, the other Harry began to talk so that the people around him could hear. “Hey everyone, I want to introduce you to some new sixth years who will be going here from now on. This is Rachel Merton, her brother Steven, and their friend Seth Jordan.” Everyone around them, mostly faces the three of them recognized, greeted them. Harry began introducing people. “This is Padma Patil and Lavender Brown, never see one without the other. And there Hannah Abbot, you know her already. Across the table there is Dean Thomas, and Seamus Finnigan. Last, but certainly not least, let me introduce these two blokes: Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom.” Harry noticed that the Neville sitting across the table from them was much leaner; one could tell just from looking that he also had a great deal more self-confidence, no doubt the result of having his parents around his whole life.

“Of course, we all know them better as the New Marauders,” a voice came from behind them. They turned around in their seats to find two girls who had come in late to breakfast. The first was Ginny Weasley. The second one, whom Harry recognized from photographs, was Iris Potter. It was she who made the comment about the New Marauders.
Sitting down beside the group, she continued, “My brother here felt he had to continue the most noble tradition of getting in as much trouble as possible, a legacy passed down from our father. He and three friends of his called themselves the Marauders when they were at school, and so Harry felt he just had to carry on the legacy.”

The other Harry rolled his eyes at that, then continued with his introductions. “As you’ve no doubt guessed, this is my sister Iris. And this,” he said, pointing to Ginny, “is my always loving girlfriend, Ginny Weasley.”

Harry watched this loving scene with feelings of jealousy. In front of him the life he had always wanted. Yesterday, he had glimpsed his parents; now, the puzzle was complete. A sister, and a relationship with Ginny. A normal life. He also realized that this Harry’s relationship with Ginny was not a new one. They had an easy chemistry about them that suggested years of being together, instead of the weeks Harry had before coming to this world.

Hermione interrupted Harry’s daydreaming, saying “I’m a little confused. You said that your father and three of his friends formed the original Marauders right?” Harry and Iris nodded. “But there are only three of you. Shouldn’t there be a fourth Marauder?”

Ron, Neville, and Harry’s faces lit up at this. It was Ron that spoke this time. “Well, the original Marauders were all Gryffindors. However, despite great protestation from one Sirius Black, the new Marauders decided to allow an outsider into the group.” At this, the three of them motioned over to the Hufflepuff table. Ernie MacMillan got up and walked over to them.

“Meet the final of the new Marauders,” Neville said. “Ernie Macmillan.”

Not exactly the most dramatic of my chapter endings, but oh well. I desperately wanted to include with much more sizable roles two of my favorite characters in the series that are too often ignored: Ernie and Hannah. Ernie's role is obvious. Got another idea up my sleeve for Hannah. Any guesses?

And oh yeah, where's that Hermione girl in this world? Hmm...

Please read and review! Let me know what you think about the direction I'm going in!